Partying for "art" and maybe music?

Here's an article on the convergence in LA of the art, hipster, and entertainment crowds at various parties.

Local music events could probably learn a bit from this.

But throwing a good party is not easy.

The best parties I have every been to have been in conjunction with the University of Colorado's Conference on World Affairs.

Here's why I think they work:

1. Everyone who attends has been hand-selected and is considered a leader in his or her field. Every year the conference invites about 100 movers/shakers/creative types from diverse fields to a week-long conference where they are put on panels and discuss a variety of topics, all of which is free and open to the public.
Both the level of accomplishment and the diversity of backgrounds are important. This gives you quality interactions that aren't narrowly defined.

2. People are there because they want to be there. Since everyone who is invited to the conference pays their own way, they are interested in participating. This means they are open and eager to meet each other. Few, if anyone, is is standing around trying to be too cool or disinterested to talk to everyone else. And since they know everyone has been handpicked, they make the assumption that they will be engaged in quality conversations with anyone they happen to be standing next to.

3. The group is a mix of familiar faces and new faces. A certain number of invitees have been to the conference before, in some cases for many years. Others are there for the first time. So the old-timers know enough people to give the parties a family feel, but the newcomers trigger new conversations.

I've been to other parties/events that have not been as good and here are some of the reasons:

1. Not an interesting mix of people. If no one has much to say, there's no energy in the room.

2. Too in-bred. If it's a group of people all in the same industry, you pretty much know what to expect in terms of conversation.

3. Too cliquey. Some parties, particularly certain groups of elites/hipsters, are cold because everyone there is trying too hard to be cool. (No pun intended.)

4. No one knows anyone. When everyone is a stranger, there's too much time spent on introductions and trying to scope everyone out. People spend all their time trying to decide who to meet and how to break the ice rather than jumping into a good conversation.

Putting the 'art' in party - Los Angeles Times: "In recent weeks, however, several art-related events — in Hollywood, Elysian Park, West Hollywood and Culver City, respectively — have signaled an evolution in how Los Angeles will party in the name of art.

"Each event derived a cerebral glamour from differing points on the pop-art continuum, crossing time-honored social divides in the process and raising both money for and awareness about Angeleno cultural life in the process."

creative class
Conference on World Affairs
CWA
University of Colorado